What's changed - Spies and Diplomacy work pretty similar to Civilization V - Research now has a tech tree, just as in Civilization V. - The "Next turn" button includes a (forceful) reminder to pick production, research and fleet commands, just as in Civilization V. - There's no maximum travel distance anymore (which depended on fuel cell technology in Master of Orion II). - A research victory has been introduced, again, very similar to the one present in the Civilization series. - Travel now only works across certain lanes, similar to the hyperspace lines in Stellaris. - Tactical combat is real time, but with a pause button. - Population growth is created directly by surplus food (as, again, in Civilization). - Taxation now affects happiness, not production. - Surveying a system requires to travel to each planet separately (until a technology is developed in mid game). - Space pirates populate some systems in the early game. They attack your civilian ships and planets. Sounds familiar? Yes, they are barbarians from the Civiliation series. What's missing - Leaders, ship experience, Antareans, videos for game defeat and victory have not been included. Interface - The interface is okay, but nothing more. It is much less annoying than in Stellaris, for example. - Some features lack documentation in the game, especially ship design. Opinion Overall: Meh. Okay, but not great. The game is better described as a dumbed down version of Civilization V, not as an update to Master of Orion II. Updating a revered classic is difficult task, and one has to decide wether to stick what was before or create something new. Sadly, Master of Orion IV fails in both aspects. Integral parts from the original game are missing. And slapping some direct copies of Civilization 5 features onto the game instead is neither creative nor an adequate replacement. The obvious omissions make one wonder if they're planning to sell them separately as DLC - currently, it's a job done half.
